Greenhouse Solutions with Sustainable

Energy
Dr Mark Diesendorf
Institute of Environmental Studies
University of New South Wales
m.diesendorf@unsw.edu.au

Global Warming is Accelerating

Melting of Arctic ice reduces reflection of sunlight and amplifies warming
Melting of permafrost releases methane and CO2 which amplify warming
Global warming increases water vapour in atmosphere which amplifies
warming
Global warming warms soils which release more CO2 which amplifies
warming
Global warming increases prevalence and intensity of wild fires which
release CO2 which amplifies warming

Targets Needed for Long- and Short-Term

Long-term: 80% reduction compared with 1990 level by 2050
Short-term: 30% reduction compared with 1990 level by
2020
Therefore, strong policies and actions needed now to
implement especially those technologies that can reduce
emissions before 2020

Australian Government finally acknowledges

that there is a problem

Federal Governments Main Solution:

Coal Power with Capture & Burial of CO2
May not be commercially
available for 20 years, if
ever
Risks of escape of buried
gas
Will cost more than wind
power and bioenergy from
crop residues

Necessary and cheaper at NW

Shelf gas fields
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Federal Govts Back-up Solution: Nuclear Power

Still has all the old problems:
Proliferation of nuclear weapons
Superb terrorist target
Rare but devastating accidents
Still no long-term dump for high-level
nuclear wastes
More expensive than wind power and
some bioelectricity
Chernobyl

Is Nuclear Power part of the Greenhouse

Solution?
Too slow to build, so its not a short-term solution
Emits increasing amounts of CO2 as uranium ore grade
decreases, so its not a long-term solution
Therefore, based on existing technologies, nuclear power is
a dead-end alley, a diversion from genuine action.

Its not a choice between coal and nuclear!

X
Clean coal could not make a significant
contribution before 2025

Both are dirty and dangerous technologies

X
Nuclear could not make a
significant contribution before 2022
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The Genuine Solution

Sustainable Energy Future for Australia
based energy efficiency, renewable energy and
natural gas (the cleanest fossil fuel) during the
transition

Rocky Point, Qld

Albany, WA
STE

SUSTAINABLE
ENERGY

Energy efficiency
Wind
Biomass
Solar, Geothermal

PV

Christie Walk, Adelaide

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Energy Efficiency: Residential, Commercial, Industrial

Cheapest and Fastest Technologies
e.g. Residential
Solar efficient design in new buildings & retrofits
Insulation of buildings
Efficient heating & cooling
Efficient appliances, equipment & lighting
Solar hot water with efficient shower heads &
taps

Christie Walk, Adelaide City

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Electricity Generation
Example of a Cleaner Electricity Mix for 2040 based
on Commercially Available Technologies
Efficient energy use to reduce demand. Then:
Natural gas:

30%

Bioenergy from crop residues & oil mallee:

30%

Wind power:

20%

Coal: (78% now)

8%

Hydro: (8% now)

8%

Solar electricity (conservative estimate)

4%

Would achieve 80% reduction in CO2 emissions from electricity

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Cleaner Energy Mix: Direct Local Jobs per Unit of

Electricity Generated
Source of electricity
Coal electricity + coal mining

Relative number of job-years

per kWh in Australia
1

Wind power with 50% Australian

content
Bio-electricity with 50% Australian
content
Wind power with 80% Australian
content

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Approx. 3.5
(mostly rural)
3.55

Principal source: MacGill, Watt & Passey (2002)

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Energy Supply
Biomass residues could supply 30% electricity without competing with food
Fuels include wheat stubble,
sugar cane residues &
plantation forest residues.
Residues & organic wastes
cheapest & fastest, but
resource limited.
Price depends on distance that
fuel is transported
Generates base-load power

Burning sawmill & sugar cane residues at Rocky Point, Qld

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Energy Supply
Wind could generate 20% of Australias electricity in 2040

20% of electricity achieved in

Denmark, 25% planned for 2010
Changes to transmission network
are needed
Large-scale dispersed wind + gas
turbines can substitute for coal in
grid = base-load
Albany wind farm, W.A.
15

Gas as a Transitional Fuel

Combined cycle power stations: 30% of electricity by 2040
Cogeneration of electricity and heat, especially in industrial &
commercial sectors
Back-up for solar hot water, solar space heating & solar
thermal electricity
Back-up for wind power with peak-load gas turbines
Post-2050, gas gradually replaced by solar (both PV and
STE) and biofuels produced sustainably
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Additional Base-Load Under Development

Solar thermal electricity with
thermal storage in water, rock
bed or thermo-chemical
system
Will be commercially available
before clean coal & new
generation nuclear power
stations
Hot rock geothermal power
(not yet operating)
Both are base-load
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Matching Demand and Supply

Conventional

Renewable

Hydro & gas

Hydro, gas,
biomass

Coal & gas

Solar PV, gas

Coal

Gas, biomass, wind,

solar thermal +
storage, geothermal,
energy efficiency

Base-load is artificial construct to justify inflexibility of coal & nuclear. 18

What we can do in response to delays by

governments, Federal & State
Individual family & business actions are necessary. They set precedents
and have limited educational value.
Individual & family actions are not sufficient. Governments make the
laws, collect taxation revenue and make infrastructure decisions.
A social movement is essential for changing Government and
Opposition policies and for changing business practices and products.
In USA and Australia, social movements are growing. They involve
local governments, some businesses, environmental NGOs, churches,
trade unions and concerned citizens.
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Key Govt Policies Needed

Ratify Kyoto Protocol & support stronger targets post-2012 Federal
Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET): increase target & extend time
period Fed and/or States
Ban all new conventional coal-fired power stations States
Introduce general carbon pricing, either by carbon tax or emission permits
with cap & trade preferably Federal; otherwise group of States
R & D funding for expensive renewables with huge potential: solar electricity
& bioenergy from dedicated crops Fed & States
Fund urban public transport and intercity rail equally with roads - Fed &
States
Fund a more geographically distributed transmission system Fed & States
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Emissions Trading: Requirements for an

Effective Scheme
Broad scope: covers production & import of all fossil fuels
Tight cap on emissions: --> price of at least $35/tonne CO2
Auctioned permits allow clean technologies to compete with
dirty
Permits must be temporary licences, not property rights

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Additional Key State Govt Policies Needed

Extend BASIX-type schemes to improve energy efficiency in existing
residential & commercial buildings
Energy ratings & MEPS for all appliances & equipment
Foster solar hot water, space heating, electricity & clothes drying
Urban & regional planning to ensure locations of major travel destinations
are supplied by public transport, preferably rail
Improve urban public transport, especially heavy & light rail, and integrate
with urban planning
Stop building major roads; limit parking places in urban centres &
subcentres
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Stern Review of Macro-Economic Models

Cost of business-as-usual will be huge: 520% of annual
global GDP by 2050
Costs equivalent to a world war or a major economic
depression
Costs of greenhouse response will be small: about 1% of
annual global GDP by 2050

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Micro-Economics of Sustainable Energy Mix

Sustainable energy = Energy efficiency + Renewable energy
Efficient energy use saves money and pays for most of the
additional costs of renewable energy
Existing subsidies to production & use of oil can be transferred
to public transport.
Any shortfall can be obtained from carbon pricing, either a
carbon tax or auctioned permits.
Sustainable energy is least-cost & fastest greenhouse solution.
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Summary
Human-induced climate change appears to be accelerating; therefore big
reductions are needed before 2020
Coal with CO2 burial may not be ready for 20 years or more
Nuclear power is too slow to be a short-term solution and will become a
significant CO2-emitter in the long-term
Efficient energy use, some types of renewable energy and gas (as a
transitional fuel) are ready now and together can achieve big GHG reductions
before 2020.
Federal Government is attempting to delay strong action (especially carbon
pricing) for 1520 years until its preferred technologies may be ready
Individual action is necessary, but not sufficient.
We need a social movement to generate the political will in governments and
Oppositions.
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Further Reading

Diesendorf M (2007) Greenhouse Solutions with

Sustainable Energy, UNSW Press

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